Transmission gearing



Mar'. 6, 1923.

4E. C. HATCHEH ET AL. TRANSMISSION GEARING.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

H'LED MAY 2, 1922.

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Mar. 65 1923.

- 1,447,845. E. C.VHAT,CHEH ET AL.

TRANSMISSION GEARING.

FILED MAY 2, 1922. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Mar. 6, 1923. 1,447,845.

E. C.. HATCHER ET AL. TRANSMISSION GEARING.

FILED MAY 2, |922. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 gg /Z Patented Mar. 6, ll9?3.A

naar

For. i

TRANSMISSION GEARING.

Application filed May 2, 1922.

To all 'whom t may concern Be it known that we, ERNEST CHARLES HATCHER,a subject of the King lof Great Britain, residing at London, England,and THoMAs Rookie, a subjecti of the King of Great Britain, residing atLondon, England, have invented a new and useful improved TransmissionGearing, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in variable speed and reversinggearing of the kind comprising spindles mounted in a cage and gearedtogether, one of the said spindles having mounted thereon a worin wheelor helical gear in gear with a worm or helical gear on the driving shaftand the other spindle having mounted thereon a worm or helical gear ingear with a worm wheel or helical gear on the driven shaft.

The said invention provides gearing of the kind hereinabove referred tocomprising two or more trains of gearing between the driving and thedriven shafts, respectively giving different velocity ratios, androtating the driven shaft in the same or in the o-fpposite direction tothat in which the driving shaft rotates. These trains of gearing are putinto operation by clutches which may conveniently be arranged so thatonly one train of gearing is operative at any given time. In some casesthe several trains of gearing may be so arranged that each traincomprises an equal number of gears of a. like kind arranged in the sameorder inthe train. At a convenient part of each train of gearingconnecting the driving and driven shafts, a clutch is provided so thatthe train can be rendered operative or inoperative, for example, thisclutch can be arranged to couple one of the spindles to one of the gearscarried thereon, which may be either the gear connecting. the spindle tothe correspending sha-ft, or the gear connecting one spindle to theother spindle.

The cage carrying the spindles may be mounted so that it can rotate anda clutch device is then provided whereby the cage or the driven memberof the train of bearing, i. e., the worm wheel on the driven shaft, canbe held against rotation, alternatively, and the member not so held canbe simultaneously positively clutched or coupled to the driven shaft.The said clutchv device is moreover adapted to couple the cage and thedriven member of the gea-ring simultane ously to the driven shaft,whilst the cage and Serial No. 557,892.

driven member are sety free to rotate with the driving shaft. Anyconvenient form of. clutch construction may be employed in providing therequired clutch members, toothed or dog clutches beingv sometimespreferable,` but other constructions of clutch such as a a friction,magnetic or liquid circulation clutch may be substituted wherepracticable. The operation of the clutch device for holding or releasingthe cage allows the driven shaft to be rotated in either directionwithout changing the train of gearing through which motion istransmitted from the driv-` ing shaft. l

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is an end elevation,

Figure 2 is a sectional plan view on the line 2-2, Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a transverse section on the line 3 3, Figure 2, oftransmission gearing arranged, in accordance with this invention, toprovide for four different velocity ratios between the driving and thedriven shafts.

. Figure 4 shows in longitudinal central section a modified arrangementof the irnproved gearing. .Y

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 2 illustrating a modificationhereinafter described.

Referring to Figures l, 2 and 3, 3l is a driving shaft 32 a driven shaftand 33 is a casing carrying spindles 34, 35 arranged transversely toeach other and to the shafts. The. driving shaft 3l has fast thereon aworm 36y in gear with two worm wheels 37k respectively mounted on thespindles 34 each of which carries two worms 33 respectively in gear withworin wheels 39 on the spindles 35. Clutch members 40 slidab-lyl keyedon the spindles 35 are provided for coupling the worm wheels 38individually to the said spindles each of which has fast thereon a worm41 in gear with a worm wheel 42 on the driven shaft 32. Thus there areprovided four different trains of gearing between the driving and drivenshafts each train comprising the Worm 36 on the driving shaft 31, a wormwheel 37 on a spindle 34, a. worm 38 on this spindle, a worm wheel 39 onanother spindle 35, a'clutch 40, a wormr on the spindle last mentionedand the worm wheel on the. driven shaft. Each train has a differentvelocity ratiofand the direction of rotation of the driven sha-ft iseither the same or opposite to that of the driving shaft, according tothe Spiral;directionl of the worms which may be either right or lefthanded. Instead of the worm 38 and worm wheel 39 other suitable gearsmay be einployed such as helical gears.

rIhe spindles 35 instead of being arranged transversely to the spindles34 may be mounted in the cage parallel to the spindles 34 andtransversely to the driving and driven shafts. Each spindle 34 can thenbe geared to a corresponding spindle 35 by more than one train or pairof vspur wheels each train or pair being put into or out of gear bysuitable clutch devices, and arranged to give a different velocityratio. Moreover each train between the driving and driven shafts maycomprise more than two spindles geared together in succession.

In Figure 5 the spindle 34 is shown arranged parallel to the spindle 35.These spindles may be geared together by any number of spur wheels 71,72 arranged to give different velocity ratios, each spur wheel 72 beingrotatably mounted on the spindle 35 and clutches 73 being provided toclutch any of these wheels 72 to this spindle.

The ends ofthe several spindles 34, 35 may be extended out of the casing33 and coupled to controlling, registering or other devices, or tosecondary mechanisms associated with that operated by the driven shaft32.

The clutch members 40 are moved by slidably mounted bars 43, so that bymoving these bars longitudinally each clutch may be brought to aposition in which it engages with the corresponding clutch part 44 onone of the worm wheels 39. Movement ofthe bars 43 cany be convenientlyeffected by a lever 45 movable in a gate plate 46.y This lever can turnon the pivot 47 to bring its end 48 into a fork 49 on either bar and canthen turn on the pivot 50 to move this bar 43 and make either clutch 40,44 operative accordingly. Clutches may also be provided for couplingeach of the worms 39v to the corresponding spindle 35.

The spindles and the shafts may be provided with antifriction thrustbearings, if desired, to transmit end thrust in any shaft or spindle tothe Xed part resisting the same.

The transmission gear described with reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3provides four distinct transmission trains each train causing rotationof the driven shaft in one direction only. A reversing clutch may beprovided so that thevresultant direction of motion of the driven shaftwhen actuated by anyof the trains can be reversed withoutv affecting theposition of the particular clutch 40, 44 which is operative at thattime.y For this purpose, as shown in Figure 4, the casingvr or cage 33acarrying the spindles 34, 35-"is mounted so that it can rotate and thereversing clutch device comprises a clutch rino' 51 carrying clutchmembers 52, 53 which by movement of the ring 51 axially with respect tothe shafts 31, 32 can be alternately put into engagement withcorresponding clutch members 54, 55 provided on the cage 33a and on theworm, wheel 42, respectively. This worm wheel 42 instead of being faston the driven shaft 32 is rotatably mounted on an extension of the cage33a. The ring 51 is slidably mounted in a non-rotary frame part 56. Theclutch device also comprises a rotary sleeve 57 pr 0 vided with clutchmembers 58, 59, 60, 61 arranged to couple either the cage 33ZL or thedriven member 42 alternatively or simultaneously to the driven shaft 32by engaging clutch members 62, 63, 64 as hereinafter described.

When the ring 51 and sleeve 57 occupy the positions in which they areshown in Figure 4, the clutch members 53, 54 are inv engagement so asvto hold the worm wheel 42 against rotation, and then rotation of theworm 41 causes the cage 33a to rotate. The clutch members 58, 59 beingout of engagement with the clutch member 62, the sleeve 57 can berotated by the cage through the clutch members 63, 60 and drive theshaft 32 through thel clutch members 61, 64 at a definite velocityrelatively tothe speed of the driving shaft ldependent on the ratiosbetween the gears comprised in the operative train 37, 38, 39, 41, 42.The direction of rotation of the driven shaft may be either the same asor opposite to that of the driv- 'ing shaft depending on the angulardirection of the worm gears.

The direction of rotation of the driven shaft may be reversed by movingthe ring 51 and sleeve 57 towards the driving shaft. Then the cage 33aisheld against rotation by engagement of the clutch members 52, 54 theother clutch members 53, 55 beingy brought out of engagement so as toallow the worm wheel or driven member 42 torotate driven by the worm 41.The `clutch member 59 on the sleeve engages the clutch member 62 on thewheel 42 and transmits mo-tion from this wheel to the shaft 32 throughthe clutch members 61, 64.

By moving the ring 51 and sleeve 57 frein the position in which they areshown in Figure 4, in the direction oftheshaft 42, the cage 33il andworm wheel arevboth free to rotate but by reason of the simultaneousengagement of the clutch members 58, 62 and 59, 63, relative movement ofthecage and wheel is prevented,` so `that the gearing becomes locked.These parts therefore-roico' tate with the driving-shaft 31 and at thesame speed carrying with them theshaft 32.

The clutch sleeve 57 and clutch ring 51 can be moved as required Withoutone -obstruct-ing the other since the drivenmember 42, instead of beingkeyed directly on the driven shaft 32, is mounted on a sleeve orextension integral 'With the cage 33a so that the clutch member 54 to'be engaged by the clutch member 52 on the ring 5l can be provided atone end of the cage 33a Whilst the clutch member 55 on the Worm Wheel ordriven member 42, to be engaged by the other clutch member 53 on thisring, is provided in a position adjacent to the said clutch member 52.The clutch members 62, 63 and 64 on the Worm Wheel or driven member, thecage extension and the driven shaft can then be arranged injuxtaposition so that they can be engaged by the clutch members providedon the sleeve 57.

The ring 51 and the sleeve 57 can be moved axially simultaneously by ano-perating rod 65 attached to the ring and having a fork or armextending intol a groove 66 in the sleeve.

The part 56 instead of being fixed may be mounted to rotate andrestrained from rotation by springs, latches, or other devices adaptedto yield, for example, when subjected to an excessive load, or this partmay, if desired, be held to a fixed frame part by a magnetic, liquidcirculation, or like clutch.

l/Vhen the casing or cage carrying the spindles 34, 35 is mounted torotate, the clutch lever 45 is dispensed with, and the clutch bars 43are moved by arms or bell crank levers 67 mounted in brackets 68 on thecage 33"L and operated by pins or rollers 69 projecting therefrom intogrooved collars 70 slidable on the shaft 31.

What We claim is:

1. Gearing for 'transmitting motion from a driving to a driven shaft,the Said gearing comprising a cage, spindles mounted in the said cage, aWorm and a Worm Wheel gearing the driving shaft to one spindle, a Wormand a Worm Wheel gearing another spindle to the driven shaft, gearsconnecting the said spindles, and a clutch arranged to couple one memberof the train of gearing to the sp-indle on which the said mem- .ber ismounted.

the train of gearing to the spindle on which the said member is mounted.

3. Gearing for transmitting motion from a driving to a driven shaft inalignment therewith,the said gearing comprising a cage, spindles mountedin the said cage transversely to the driving and driven shafts, a

Worm and a worm lWheel gearing'the driving shaft to one spindle, a Wormand a Worm Wheel gearing another spindle to the driven shaft, gearsconnecting the said spindles, and a clutch arranged to couple one memberof the train 0f gearing to the spindle on which the said member ismounted.

4. Gearingfor transmitting motion from a' driving'to a driven shaft, thesaid gearing comprising a cage, spindles mounted in the said cage, someof the said spindles being geared to the driving shaft and some to thedriven shaft by Worm and Worm Wheel gearing, gears connecting eachspindle thus geared to the driving shaft to a corresponding spindlegeared to the driven shaft, thus providing alternative trains of gearinglbetween the driving and driven shafts, and a clutch in each trainarranged to couple one member of thetrain to the spindle on which thesaid member is mounted.

5. Gearing for transmitting motion from a driving to a driven shaft, thesaid gearing comp-rising a cage, a plurality of spindles mounted in thesaid cage, gears connecting the said spindles together in suocession, aWorm and a Worm Wheel gearing the first spindle of the line of spindlesto the driving shaft, a Worm and a Worm Wheel gearing the last spindleof the line of spindles to the driven shaft, and a clutch arranged tocouple one member of the said gears to the spindle on which the saidgear is mounted.

6. Gearing for transmitting motion from a driving to a drivenv shaft,the said gearing comprising a rotary cage, spindles mounted in the saidcage, a Worm and a Worm Wheel gearing the driving shaft to one spindle,gearing connecting this spindle. to another of the said spindles, a Wormon the spindle last mentioned in gear With a Worm Wheel rotatablymounted 'on the said cage, a clutch for coupling the said Worm Wheel tothe driven shaft, and a clutch for coupling the cage to a lnon-rotaryframe part. 7. Gearing for transmitting motion fromv a driving to adriven shaft, theI said gearing comprising a rotary cage, spindlesmounted in the said cage, a Worm and a Worm Wheel gearing the drivingshaft to one spindle, gearing connecting this spindle to Aanother of thesaid spindles, a worm on the spindle last mentioned in gear with a wormWheel rotatably mounted on the said cage, a clutch for coupling the saidworm wheel to a non-rotary frame part, and a clutch for coupling thecage to the driven shaft. y

8. Gearing for transmitting motion from a driving to a driven shaft, thesaid gearin comprising a rotary cage, spindles mounted in the said cage,some of the saidspindles being geared to the driving shaft and some tothe driven shaft by Worm and Worm wheel gearing, gearsreonne-Ctingearhspindle thus coupling ythe last driven member of all the 10 gearedto the drlving shaft to a correspondv trams 0f gearing-to a. non-rotaryframe part ing- Yspindle geared-1:0y thedriven shaft, thus and'to thedriven shaft, respectively.-

pIfOVlC-llng alternative trains gllng be tween' the driving and drivenshafts, `e THOMAQ JROKF: y J clutch in each train tov render sameoiperay J' tive or inoperative, Clutches 'for eouplingthev WI'DD'BSSGS!eage'to a non-rotary frame part and to the AJBSTON, driven .shaftreepeet-ively;` and elutchesfor CHAS. FQMURPHY.

